


cut

by rubyisms



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Drabble
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-26
Updated: 2020-01-26
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:16:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22416880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rubyisms/pseuds/rubyisms
Summary: Haru and Akechi have a talk.
Relationships: Akechi Goro & Okumura Haru
Comments: 4
Kudos: 39





	cut

“Thank you for doing this, Okumura-san.”

There’s a bit of a rustle as the heiress glances over at the detective seated in the chair she had specifically brought out for him. She finds what she was looking for and smiles, coming back over. “How many times have I said it’s okay to use my given name, Goro?” She stands behind his chair, firmly placing her hands on the back of it.   
  
That gets a soft laugh from Akechi who manages a smile himself. “Old habits die hard, I’m afraid.” He reaches up and holds his hair in between his fingers, staring in the mirror. It’s been three years since the Phantom Thieves rose and fell from grace all at once. Three years since all the hearts they changed. Three years since the confrontation in Shido’s palace. Three years since he was given a second chance.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Haru asks, her voice soft. In one hand, she holds a pair of scissors. “I’m only experienced with trimming flowers and snipping weeds away from my garden. I’ve never cut hair before.”   
  
“I’m positive.” Akechi lowers his gloved hand from his face, “It’s necessary for me in order to let the past go.” Both of his hands come up to rest in his lap, still staring in the mirror at his reflection. He’s come a long way in three years. The anger and hatred in his heart that simmered for nearly two decades had been hard to push through, but with the help he could seek from professionals as well as the consistent, and quite frankly  _ annoying _ , presence of Akira Kurusu, he had begun to heal.

While a big part of that healing was self-healing, there was also the lingering guilt of the things he had done, that he had felt remorse for. His therapist had encouraged him to salvage the few bonds he had severed in his destructive and reckless attempt to push them all away from him. That moment of desperation where he was the traitor who was meant to destroy the Phantom Thieves, so blinded by hate and rage that he was willing to kill himself in the process. He never asked for their forgiveness, nor did he ever push them to it. 

Forgiveness had to be earned, not begged for. That was the first lesson he had learned.

“Oh, okay.. But if it’s not what you wanted, don’t say I didn’t warn you!” Haru smiles and lifts the scissors to his hair. There’s a snip, and Akechi exhales slowly. For someone who was quite terrifying in the Metaverse with an axe, Haru sure had a gentle touch and hold on his head. It’s almost alarming how she had such a sadistic personality underneath that sweet and soft exterior. He supposes that once he was the same. The detective prince, now disgraced and branded as a criminal. It was what he deserved, after all.

Her fingers tilt his head as she cuts away the hair on the back of his head, taking careful care around the sides. She’s humming softly under her breath as she works. Akechi remembers the day Haru approached him at Cafe Leblanc, unmotivated by Akira or any of the other Phantom Thieves. They didn’t talk about much, only small talk about school and hobbies they had.

He supposes it was that moment when Haru began to give him a chance to earn his forgiveness. It was small things, at first. A friendly “Good morning!” message from her when he woke up and small talk whenever they encountered each other in the street. It didn’t take long for that friendly “Good morning” to become a daily occurrence, with Akechi beating her to it on some mornings. That one message soon became conversations through text, then phone calls, then hangouts at the diner on Central Street.

“Goro, are you okay?” Haru’s concerned voice breaks through his thoughts and Akechi becomes very aware that his face is wet. Slowly, his fingers press to his cheeks, a wetness seeping in through his thin gloves. “Am I being too rough? Oh-!” her eyes widen and she looks worried, “did I hurt you?”   
  
“No!” He answers, a bit too loudly and aggressively but his tone quickly softens. “No, no, you’re alright. I was just lost in my thoughts.” The back of his hand wipes away the tears on his face and the ones still in his eyes before it settles back on his lap.   
  
“I see…” There’s a moment of pause before her hands return to his hair, gently snipping and cutting away. “Do you want to talk about it?”   
  
Did he? He usually only ever talked about these things to his therapist, as they were more qualified and trained to help him sort out the negative and angry thoughts from the positive ones he had been experiencing more and more lately. The ones he was afraid to lose sight of and spiral back down into that dark, cruel place he had been in for all these years. “Why did you forgive me?” His voice is soft, and Haru’s hands pause once again.

He can hear the scissors being set aside, and she’s sighing softly before resting her hands on the back of his chair again. “I’ll be honest, I was perfectly content to live the rest of my life never forgiving you and hating you forever for what you did.” Then she inhales slowly, exhaling that same breath just as slowly. “It isn’t healthy thinking, I know, but I knew I was more than justified to do so because you took my father away from me. Then you started making an effort to change from the person you were. It was admirable watching you make the decisions you did to try and get help.”

Akechi listens carefully as Haru returns to his hair, cutting slowly and calmly. “I’m never going to be over what happened to my father, and part of me will always blame you. But I understand that Shido is the one that gave you the gun you would pull. In a misguided attempt to get revenge on the man you hated more than anything, you let yourself be used as a tool. I understand being used by a father or a father figure.” The scissors end back up on the table again.

“I figured it was at least worth a shot to see if you were truly changing from the person you were.” There’s a tone to her voice that makes it clear she’s smiling, even if Akechi isn’t looking into the mirror to see it. “And you were. You  _ are _ . I can’t speak for the others, but I’m proud of you and how far you’ve come.”

He manages a smile, exhaling and letting out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding. Somehow, hearing those words helps more than he could ever say. He isn’t quite sure what to say in response, and after a moment, Akechi just smiles. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Now, how did I do?” Akechi looks in the mirror at last, ever since she began cutting his hair. The length in the back is gone, though his bangs in his face remain, as well as the general length on the sides. He manages a smile, his reflection mimicking the action, that quickly grows into a grin.

“It’s perfect.”

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are love!


End file.
